Cisco Re-Org Exemplifies Rise of IoT

Cisco announced its reorg the same day ARM released a survey it commissioned by the Economist Intelligence Unit of the business impact of IoT. The study surveyed 779 executives from large and medium-sized companies around the globe across various industries.

Three-quarters of the companies surveyed said they are either actively exploring or using the Internet of Things in some way. Three years from now, almost all respondents (96 percent) expect their businesses to be using the IoT in some respect.

However, current IoT investments are relatively low. Since 2012, only about 30 percent of companies surveyed have seen double-digit growth in IoT investment. Forty percent of respondents said the impact of IoT will be limited to certain markets or industries. A similar-sized group (38 percent) believes that the IoT will have a major impact in most markets and industries. Most executives (61 percent) said companies that are slow to integrate the IoT into their businesses will fall behind the competition.

The study included interviews with nine executives, such as one from China-based white goods giant Haier, which is developing a WiFi-based networked home appliance platform. The drop in the cost of WiFi routers to prices as low as $10 enabled the concept, it said.

The study also included an interview with Kevin Ashton, general manager of the clean tech division at Belkin who claimed to have coined the term Internet of Things in 1999 while at Procter and Gamble.

It's no surprise that Cisco -- late to the game on this one -- is trying to gain as much as it can by selling its existing 'hardened' devices for IoT apps.

But there is no innovation here (yet). IP can already transport BACnet, MODbus, and many other SCADA, BMS, and other protocols.

The real innovation work that needs to be done is systems, not network integration. Most if not all of the SCADA, BMS, and other PLC gear already have IP functionality or at least gateways. What's really missing is systems/application level integration, not transport (over IP).

It is interesting to learn that CISCO is working towards bringing SCADA on the internet. GE has coined the term "Industrial Internet" and plans to work with AT&T, CISCO, Intel for building and expanding the industrial Internet, or machine-to-machine (M2M), does this relate to the same?